


Never Alone

by Seriyah



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: A spilled a little don’t judge me, Adrinette, F/M, Marichat, Marinoir?, Seriously though imposter syndrome is so real, The feely kind, Tumblr Prompt, a little angsty but it's All Okay, actually don’t know what this ship is called help me, and a splash of feels, ask
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-23
Updated: 2019-07-23
Packaged: 2020-07-11 17:35:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19931878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seriyah/pseuds/Seriyah
Summary: A prompt story.…Chat Noir climbed up to a higher vantage point as stealthily as he was able. He didn’t want to chance blundering in on an akuma possession unprepared.  What he found almost made him wish there was an akumatized villain to throw him around. It would’ve hurt less.





	Never Alone

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on tumblr. Thank you to Harmonis for the prompt.
> 
> In which Marinette is having a hard time and tells Chat Noir (Adrien knows who ladybug is, but Marinette doesn't know)

In hindsight, it wasn’t hard to tell that Marinette was Ladybug. The fact Adrien couldn’t tell who his Lady was when all that was obscured from him were her eyebrows seemed laughable now. It all just seemed too convenient for him that his super-powered sweetheart also doubled as a talented designer and beloved class president. Marinette showed leadership and caring in every aspect of her life. Sure, there were times she was awkward. Most times, really, but her heart was in the right place, and her overall sweetness trapped him like a fly in honey. Despite all the evidence that had pointed to Marinette being Ladybug beforehand, he hadn’t pieced it together until the moment he witnessed the tail end of her transformation. She had been cutting it close, her earring flashing their telltale warning, but she had stayed behind a little longer than usual, lost in whatever thoughts she had running around that head of hers. She had darted off the moment he’d shaken her, nearly disappearing down the stairs to the subway when a flash of light overtook her.

Adrien hadn’t been trying to look, honestly. He couldn’t help it that his eyes naturally followed her. To be fair, he might not have seen anything if she hadn’t tripped, allowing him the glimpse of that bright pink clutch. Not to mention the pants of the same colour. It certainly hadn’t helped that when Adrien got back to school that day, Marinette had scraped shins from falling down the stairs. He’d bit his tongue to keep himself from blurting anything out. Bit it so hard it was sore for days afterwards. Because there was a reason they were supposed to keep their identities secret from one another, and he doubted neither Marinette nor Ladybug would approve of him knowing. Not that they weren’t the same person. It was just… hard, sometimes, to reconcile them into one girl. They had been two people to him for so long it was easier for him to pretend they still were separate identities.

But he couldn’t stop the inevitable shift in his attention. Where Chat Noir clung to Ladybug, Adrien had begun to watch Marinette more closely, in and out of his mask. Because here was his mysterious Lady, unmasked and as open as a book to him. As Adrien, he could ask her anything he wanted to know, and she would more often than not give him a straight answer. It almost felt… cheap. How easy it had been as Adrien. Like he hadn’t earned it. He had fallen in love with Ladybug as Chat Noir, after all, and finding out about her from Marinette as Adrien seemed… off. But there he went again. Thinking of them all as separate people. Perhaps the reason he couldn’t come to terms with his partner being his classmate was because he couldn’t see himself and Chat Noir as the same people. 

Chat Noir was free to do what he wanted, to speak in any manner he desired, to go wherever he pleased. Adrien Agreste simply… was not. Which is why it was Chat Noir that snuck out that night, soaring over rooftops towards his lady-love, relishing the cool night air on his face. Some days were harder than others, and today was certainly not one of the better ones. If the taxing fencing lesson and akumatized villain today wasn’t enough, the fact his father had simply neglected to tell him he’d be gone on a business trip for the next week was more than sufficient to send him out the door. His father was rarely around as it was, but for him to simply vanish without notice…like his mother…

Nathalie had cleared it up, of course, but Adrien still decided he needed some cheering up. Sitting on the roof of his crush’s house listening to her sleep was one of the more unorthodox and morally ambiguous ways to cheer him up, but Adrien found it relaxing. It wasn’t the first time he had sought solace in watching over her slumber, and he doubted it would be the last. Just a couple rooftops to go and- 

The soft sound of sniffling pulled him up short. He nearly tripped over an uneven shingle, narrowly avoiding smashing his face into a chimney. When a cursory glance around didn’t immediately reveal the sound of the noise, Cat Noir climbed up to a higher vantage point as stealthily as he was able. He didn’t want to chance blundering in on an akuma possession unprepared. What he found made him almost wish there was an akumatized villain to throw him around.

It would’ve hurt less.

At the end of the lane, leaning against the railing on the roof of her house, was Marinette. There were no heaving sobs. No uncontrollable shaking. Most importantly, there was no akuma, much to his relief. He didn’t know if possessing a Miraculous made one immune to being akumatized, but he certainly didn’t wish to see it tested on Marinette. His night-vision meant he could see every strand of her midnight hair illuminated by the waning moon. He could trace every line the silvery tears made down her face. He was frozen, heart clenching so tightly he could feel his fingers trembling. No, no. This wasn’t right. He had to move. Now. The magnetic pull he felt for her warped into a desperate need to be in direct contact with her right. This. Second. His body twitched with the electric urge to pounce, to kidnap her from her own feelings. But god knows he didn’t want to frighten her. Never that. So rather than _jump-clutch-sooth- **hold**_ , he called out to her, soft as can be. He tried to keep the quiver out of his voice.

“Are you alright?”

Despite the strides he had taken to not scare her, she still jumped, understandably surprised at the voice addressing her in the middle of the night out in the open air. Marinette turned, wide eyes still glistening as she voiced her obvious surprise. 

“C-Chat?”

He ignored her slip of familiarity. ‘Marinette’ would have never called out to Chat Noir in such a familiar way, but there were much bigger fish to fry.

“Hey there.” He leapt down to balance on her railing, the girl taking a step back, hurriedly wiping at her eyes.

“What… what is Chat Noir doing at my house in the middle of the night?”

He dodged her question with a question of his own. “Is everything alright.” He couldn’t stop the frown of concern that settled over his face as his eyes traveled to the hatch behind her, where her parents slept. “Did something happen?”

Marinette was quick to shake her head and hands. “No! I mean. No. It’s not like that. Everything’s fine. I’m fine. You can continue on your… patrol?” She was clearly thinking back, trying to remember if they had ever spoken about him patrolling that night. All Chat could think of was the way her voice sounded when her nose was blocked. The way her eyes looked red-rimmed and fluttering as they fought against the welling of more tears. Sure, there were probably a thousand jokes he could make right now to try and help lighten the situation. He could make a terrible pun or comment about the weather. But this was Marinette and she was hurting. She would never open up to a joking Chat Noir. Ladybug never did. What she needed right now was a friend. Chat didn’t dare move towards her, but he tilted his head, voice not raising a single decibel.

“You don’t have to be fine.” 

Marinette furrowed her brow, looking confused as she sniffled again. He repeated himself.

“It’s okay if you’re not fine, Marinette.” He smiled at her, gentle as a lamb. “I keep a lot of secrets for this job. I can keep yours too.” She couldn’t possible know the dual meaning behind his words, but he could at least hope she would feel the earnestness behind them.

Her sniffle seemed more determined this time, Marinette wiping at her eyes again. He saw a flash there, hidden in her bluebell eyes. That distant spark of stubbornness Ladybug always faced him with, albeit weak and a bit watery.

“I… I _am_ fine.” Her arms crossed over her chest, but it seemed more of a gesture of comfort rather than a defiant stand. But after a moment she seemed to relent, shoulders curling in on herself. “I’m just… so tired.” 

Chat perched there, forcing himself to keep silent. Because silence was what she needed right now, and would be far more encouraging than anything he could think to say.

“I’m just tired,” She repeated, as if trying to convince herself of the truth. “I am… it’s just… hard. Sometimes. Sometimes you make decisions that work out. And you don’t know how they work out, but they do. And people hold you to that standard. Even though I never… I never really understood how I got there. Here. My classmates and friends depend on me. My parents too. People… people depend on me to… to…”

 _‘Save them,’_ Chat Noir amended silently, understanding what she could not -would not- say. Even now she guarded her secret with an unwavering resolve.

“Most days it is fine. Most days I am fine. But it’s… difficult. And awkward. And today is… some days I don’t know what I’m doing, or how I’m supposed to do them and… and today I am _**tired**_.” Despite her best efforts, another silent tear managed to pass through the tangle of her eyelashes. She wiped at it, sensitive skin around her eyes starting to turn red as she irritated it. She wasn’t fully coherent, but he could understand that. She was weary in both mind and soul. Even now he couldn’t help but marvel at the strength in her weakness. Here was a girl who was capable of everything. Who people recognized as strong and talented and dependable. And even when she felt down on her luck, she kept trucking ahead with a mantra of ‘I may not be okay right now, but I will find a reason to fight for tomorrow’. That is what he heard in the warble of her voice and the tremor of her lips.

“I just don’t want to disappoint them.”

Her confession came as a sigh of air, no more than a reluctant whisper of sound. Chat wasn’t sure she was aware she had even spoken. But here was Atlas, 15 and female, with buckling knees and a subtle tenacity. She would bend. She would crack and she may falter. But she would never fall. He wouldn’t let her. He would break every bone in his body holding her up before he would ever let that globe of responsibility crush her.

That electricity pulsed between them again, running along his limbs, begging and prodding his nerves into an inferno of latent action, quenched only by her form being engulfed by his. His arms around her shoulders. His hands splayed along her back. Each point they connected soothed the fire under his skin. She stiffened, startled by the motion. “C-cha-?” She couldn’t seem to get it out. She shivered, once, but then was still. It took a moment, but slowly he felt her arms reach out, the feline readying himself for the usual deflection. The small hands at his sides almost tickled she gripped him so softly, her cheek resting against his shoulder.

And there they stayed for hours or eons, he couldn’t tell. He moved only when she did, and even then he was reluctant. His hands still rested on her shoulders when she looked at him, expression more relaxed than it had been. He leaned closer to her, and then closer still. He drew so close to her he could feel her start to draw away in concern, and then he stopped. He summoned every bit of sincerity, fidelity, and power his mind, body and soul could muster, he glowing green eyes arresting hers, holding them captive for one moment. 

“You are _**never**_ alone.”

Each weighted word was paced and enunciated clearly and with purpose, as if it had been some ancient incantation that had been resting in the very fabric of his being. He watched her eyes widen a fraction, that faint sheen returning to them, but she managed to blink all but one of them away. Before she could scrub at it with her wrists, Chat’s hand slipped upwards, thumb smoothing over the offending tear and being mindful of his claws so near his Lady’s face. She sniffed a final time before seeming to make up her mind, placing a staying hand on his chest, her finger brushing the bell that rested there. The soft ring brought him back to himself, drawing himself away from her influence, retracting his limbs and returning her personal space to her. 

She succeeded in offering him a small smile. “How did you even know I was out here? Why are you here, Chat Noir?”

Chat returned to his perch and old ways, his usual devious grin gentled only partially by the solemn static in the air. “I’m a superhero. I always know when I’m needed.” A little white lie, perhaps, but one he would will into the realm of truth. He vowed he would be there when she needed him. He would make that lie a reality. And whether she believed him or she was just too tired to sigh in exasperation…

Adrien would cherish the memory of her tear-stained smile until the end of days.


End file.
